Picture-exhibitor



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. o, PAWKBS.

PICTURE EXHIBITOR.

No. 485,464.l PatentedNov. 1, 1892.

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W, o. PAWKES. PICTURE EXHIBITOR.

No. 485,464. Patented Nov. 1, 1892-.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' W. C. PAWKES.

PICTURE BXHIBITUR.

10.485,464.' Patennedlov. 1,1892.

uluillll PATENT EEICE,

WILBERT C. FAVVKES,V OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PICTURE-EXHIBITOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,464, dated November1, 1892.

Application filed December 10,1891. Serial No. 414,576. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, WILBERT C. FAWKES, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAdvertising Devices, of which the following is a specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference-lettersindicate like parts, Figure l is a front elevation; Fig. 2, a verticalsection; Fig. 3, a partial section; Fig. 4, a partial section of amodified form; and Figs. 5, c, 7, 8, 9, 1o, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 aredetail views.

In bringing advertising matter before-.the public it is desirable topresent it in such a manner as to attract and hold the attention of suchpeople as may come in its immediate Vicinity. To do this numerousdevices have within.

been invented, one of the most successful of which is to so mingle theadvertising matter with other matter of great interest that the formeris involuntarily brought to view While searching for the latter.

My invention relates to this class of devices, and is intended to sodisplayinteresting matter-such as scenic views, transparencies, &c.-asto draw and hold the attention and at the same time so mingle with itbusinesscards and advertising matter as to command the attention of theonlooker Without Wearying him. The advertising matter may also be inattractive form, as in transparencies, dac.

To accomplish this in asimple, economical, and durable manner is theobject of my invention. 'For this purpose I construct an ornamental caseor cabinet, as in Fig. l. This may be of any desirable design or sizesuitably adapted to contain the necessary mechanism. Upon the variouspanels and exterior parts cards, scenery, or other interesting,ornamental, or advertising matter may be placed. Through the front ofsaid case I arrange the apertures A A in such a manner as to give aclear and unobstructed view of a portion of the interior. In theseapertures may be fitted suitable lenses to magnify and bring clearly toView the matter displayed At the back of the case, opposite the lenses,I place a powerful reflector B, in front of which is arranged' the lightC and the translucent cr semitransparent screen D.

Said screen may be of ground glass or any suitable material. I prefer touse ground glass.

Between the screen D and the lensesv A A I interpose successively theframes E E, mounted upon the endless chain T T and containing a seriesof divisions, as e e e, in whichy may be placed any desired arrangementof instructive or comic views or other like matter, intermingled oralternating with the advertising matter, the arrangement and order ofwhich may be so changed and varied from time to time as to continuallyattract attention. y

VFor the purpose of properly displaying opaque cards or similar matter Iarrange the mirror F above the lensesAA at such an angle as to reflectthe light from the back of the case upon such cards from the front.

As it is difficult to procure a large number of lenses of exactly thesame magnifying povver, it is desirable to arrange for an adjustment ofthe cards and views in relation to the lenses. To accomplish this, Iprefer to construct the shaft G of the upper sprocketwheels g g withboxes and slotted bearings g g', so that by. means of the collars g2 g2and screw-threaded rods g3 g3, attached thereto and acting in thescrew-threaded fixed nuts g4 g4, the said sprocket-wheels and frames EE, mounted thereon, may be lnade to assume a position nearer to orfarther from the said lenses. It is obvious that the series of lensesfor each case should be selected from those of the same or nearly thesame magnifying power. The lenses may also be made adjustable, ifdesired, to accomplish the same purpose. v

The mechanism I prefer to employ to drive the sprocket-wheels and causethe frames E E to be successively presented before the lenses isdescribed as follows: The wormscrew H is driven by any satisfactorypower, as by an electric motor, springpower, dac. Near said worin-screwand meshing therewith and driven thereby I place the pinion K. To awrist-pin lo on the pinion K, I articula-te the bar L, which is slottednear its free end. To assist in the downpull of the bar L, I attach thecompensating weight M also to the wristpin la. I may dispense with saidweight by using an equivalent, as by making said wrist- IOO pin heavier,or enlarging the lower end of the bar L, or constructing the pinion Kheavier near said wrist-pin, I prefer to use the weight M. The slot nearthe free end of the lever L acts upon the ratchet-wheel O, the teeth ofwhich extend into the slot in said bar. Rigidly mounted upon the sameshaft with the ratchet-wheel O and revolving therewith I place thepinion o, which meshes with a pinion P, mounted upon the shaft p of thelower sprocket-wheel p and revolving therewith. The shafts upon whichthe sprocket-wheels g and p are mounted may be extended to near theopposite side of the case, where similar sprocket-wheels and chain maybe used, or a belt or band may be employed for the same purpose.

To compensate for the wear of the chain 01 for the extremes of heat andcold, causing contraction or expansion of the same, which mightinterfere with the successful operation of the device, it is desirableto arrange for a vertical and automatic adjustment of thesprocket-wheels and chain. lhis has been accomplished heretofore inanalogous structures by applying the motive power to the uppersprocket-wheel or pulley, making the lower sprocket-wheel or pulleyvertically movable, and using gravity or spring-power to hold down saidlower wheel, and thus keep the chain or belt tant. In my apparatus,however, it is desirable to keep the space in the vicinity of the uppersprocket-wheel clear of all unnecessary mechanism, to place the motiveapparatus at or near the bottom of the chain or belt, and by makingconnection direct from the motor to the lower sprocketwheel to avoid thenecessity of extending the shaft to the upper wheel; but as the upperwheel must be fixed in position it is the lower wheel which must in suchcase be made vertically adjustable, and as the motor-wheel isnecessarily fixed in position provision must be made by which the drivengear-wheel can be vertically adjusted without ungcaring from thedriving-wheel. In order to accomplish this, I have contrived severaldifferent means, all, however, involving one and the sameprinciple-viz., that of combining an endless chain or belt, passingaround and operated by an adjustable wheel at its lower end, with astationary pinion to drive said wheel, means for automaticallytightening the belt or chain, and means for preventing such automaticmovement from disengaging the movable pinion from the stationary pinion.To illustrate the application of the principle, Ishow three differentforms of this embodiment, which I will now describe. In the device shownin Figs. 5 and 6 to accomplish this result, for the bearing of the lowersprocketwheel p I use bearings R in the form of a circular arcconcentric with the pinion o. ln this bearing I form a slot 0, whosewidth is slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft p', and whichextends in the general direction of the bearing R. It will thus be seenthat the revolution of the pinion o has a tendency to move the shaft pdownward in the slot and that the revolution of the pinion o in thedirection indicated by the arrow marked upon it tends to increase thistendency, while the bearing,byits form,keeps the pinions oand P at anunvarying distance from each other, and therefore properly in mesh. Inplace of the bearing R with slot r the bar Zin Figs. l2 and li may beused, connecting together the shafts of the pinions o and P, therebykeeping them in proper mesh and also allowing a vertical adjustment, therevolution of the pinion 0 tending to increase the tension, as before. Asimilar result will be produced by the third form of apparatus,`(shownin Fig. 4,) in which I use the flexible or partially-flexible shaft X,guided in its vertical adjustment by the slotted or forked guides w',which allow a vertical movement but not a lateral one. lVeights orsprings may be used to increase the tension in any of these devices, ifdesired, or either may be used singly, or two or more combined. Of thethree devices shown I prefer to usethat first explained and shown inFigs. 5 and (5.

In attaching the frames E E to the chain T, I prefer to use the extendedshoulder T', as shown in Figs. 7 and 13, on the chain-link, in which Iform a squared or irregular opening t, into which a similarly-shapedshoulder t on the frame E fits; but any other form of attachment may beused that will cause the frame to assume and maintain a position thatshall be fixed, as to the chain-link, either at right angles or parallelthereto.

The whole mechanism is so proportioned that for each reciprocation ofthe bar L one frame E is taken from the position of observation throughthe lensA and another is presented, while the two frames adjacent to theone in view assume a position at right angles to it or so nearly so asto be out of the line of observation.

It is obvious that my device is applicable for use as aphotograph-exhibitor or for exhibiting views or similar matter alone.Fig. 15 shows one way in which I use it for exhibiting photographs orviews. In this arrangement I place the frames E parallel to the chain,as shown,.and place the lenses lower in the case or dispense with themand form a portion of the front wall of the case of glass, as S, so thatthe frames with their matter to be displayed may be viewed from thefront of the case, in which case it might be desirable to change theposition of the mirror F to throw the light properly upon thephotographs and cards; or both lenses and glass front may be used.

It will be seen that by using the weight M or its equivalent less powerwill be required to drive the mechanism, as by the force of gravity itassists the bar L in its pulling action and is lifted to a position toassist in the next pull at a time when the only work to be done is tolift the bar Linto position over the IOO IIO

next ratchet tooth., Said weight therefore not only assists in theaction of the bar L, but also acts as a governor or equalizer to theoperation of the mechanism. l

The'mode of operation is as follows: Th Worm-screw, driving the pinionK, causes it to steadily revolve, giving the bar` L a reciprocatingmovement. At each downward motion thereof the end of the slot in saidbarL, engaging with one of the teeth of the ratchetwheel O, revolves it acertain and xed dis tance. This distance is so timed with the othermechanism as to revolve the chain a distance that shall move one frame Eout of the line of vision and bring another of such frames into theposition just vacated, thus successively bringing each frame into view,

Where it remains stationary a fixed time, when it suddenly disappearsand another assumes its position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. In an exhibiting device of the kind described, the combination,in acase, of an endless chain or belt bearing both transparent and opaquecards and presenting the same regularly before a series of lenses withareflector, light, semi-transparent screen, and mirror so arranged thatthe same lightwill illuminate the back of the transparencies and also bereiiected upon the front of the opaque cards, substantially asand forthe purposes set forth.

2. In a device of the kind described, the

combination, in acase, of the vertical endless chain or belt and theupper wheel around which it revolves with a horizontally-adjustablebearing for the shaft of said upper wheel, and the screw-threaded rod g3and its 4o fixed nut g4, adapted to adjust said bearing back and forthand hold it in its adjusted position, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the sprocket- Wheel p, the pinion o forintermittently driving said sprocket-wheel, the ratchet-wheel O, thewheel K, an arm extending from a wristpin on the latter wheel andengaging with the ratchet to intermittently move the same, and thereinforcing-weight M, arranged to aid the wheel K in performing itswork, substantially as set forth.

4:.' The combination of the endless chain or belt T, the stationarywheel g, over which the upper end of the chain or belt passes, thevertically-adjustable wheel lo, around which the lower end of the chainor belt passes, the pinion P, the pinion o, the driving-wheel K', thebar L, the ratchet O, and the Weight M, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device of the kind described,the combination of the endlesschain or belt T, the Wheel p, and its pinion P at the lower end of thechain or belt, and the plates R R, having formed therein the circularslots lr, concentric With the pinion o, said slots serving as thebearings for the shaft of the pinion P, with the pinion o meshing withthe pinion P and revolving in the direction which tends to automaticallyforce the pinion P and its shaft downward in the slots r r, and thustighten the chain or belt, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

WILBERT C. FAWKES.

In presence ofim E. A. SHERBURNE,

JOHN W. HILL.

